ARIA award winning singer/songwriter and musician Josh Pyke is coming to town and gracing the stage of the Dunsborough Tavern as part of his Lone Wolf Tour.
Pyke spoke with the Mail ahead of the 18+ Dunsborough gig on Thursday April 19 and reflected on his fourth studio album The Beginning And The End Of Everything.
Have you played in the South West before and what are you looking forward to most about the tour?
I’ve been as far as Busselton for the Southbound Festival, and I’ve played in Margaret River and Bunbury a few times as well. I took my family on a campervan holiday in the South West years ago when I played at Southbound festival and we went as far as Albany so I’m really psyched to get back into that region because it was a really inspirational trip for me and it inspired quite a few songs like Where Two Oceans Meet, The Lighthouse Song. It actually also inspired White Lines Dancing which is off my most recent record, so it’s an area that’s really resonated with me and stuck in my consciousness a lot and I’m looking forward to getting back there.
What can crowds expect from your set?
I’m playing solo so I’ll have many guitars and a loop pedal to add lots of harmonies and I’ll be covering lots of songs so in a way it’s a chance for me to re-invent some of these songs that have been around for a while so audiences will be hearing a cross section of everything I’ve done.
Why was your last album your most personal record to date?
All of my records have been personalised and I only ever write from personal experience. This record in particular I wrote after the most intense period of my life after becoming a dad twice and dealing with deaths in the family and dealing with some pretty big life changes. It was also the last album that I’m doing with the label I’ve been with for ten years so there was a lot of change and a lot of intense stuff that happened in the lead up to making the album so it’s as personal as all of my other records but I just think that the stuff that happened to me personally comes out through the songs.
What is the best thing about your career as a musician?
The best thing about my career is having autonomy and every day is different and it can be scary sometimes when you have a family and you’re going from project to project. But I love that everyday when I get up I’m doing something different. For example today I spent the whole day mixing a live show that I did at the Melbourne Zoo recently for a DVD that I’m putting out as a box set and I’ve spent the day writing and I love the autonomy and the fact you can just create your own schedule and everything so that’s the best thing.
What has been your biggest career highlight?
The last tour that I’ve done has been the biggest highlight for lots of reasons. It’s been the most successful tour I’ve done and I’ve been doing this for ten years and this album is my fourth album and I didn’t really expect to be still building at this point in my career. Nine out of 10 shows were sold out including the Melbourne Zoo show which was 3,500 people which was by far the biggest crowd I’ve headlined too, so this has been a highlight for me as it instils in me this kind of confidence. I have never felt established even though I’ve been doing this for so long but I finally get a sense after this tour went so well that I have an expanding fan base which is really exciting for me.
What are your plans for the future?
The tour will extend out regionally and I’m currently mixing the songs I’m releasing on a CD/DVD box set which is limited to a thousand copies so it’s a little special edition thing which I’m selling through my website within the next three or four weeks. So that’s what I’m focusing on now and I’m always writing but I don’t have any solid plans for another record in the immediate future but I’m sure there will be one because that’s what I do haha.
Tickets are available online for $37.50 at www.oztix.com.au or at the door for $30.
For more information go to www.thedunsborough.com.au or www.joshpyke.com
